Railway track switch operating means



April 26, 1949.

Filed Juhe 5, 1947 M. E. BLYTHE 2,468,024

RAILWAY TRACK SWITCH OPERATING MEANS 2 Sheets-Shee t 1 Ir went 0r MarvinE. Blythe v MW EM M. E. 'BLYTHE RAILWAY TRACK SWITCH OPERATING MEANSApril 26, 1949.

Filed June 5, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Invenlor Marvin E. Blythe PatentedApr. 26, 1949 .1: stares ea'raznr EAIIIWAYTRAGKI SWITEH- GBWATI'NGI lMEAN S Mammanmha; Denver; 06162,!assignerr offiftysfive per centitormaE. Blythwrll'enveii Golm 3" G'Iairnst 1 This inventionrelat'estorailway"switches? and means of the above kind whicli 'iscomparatively simple'in construction,- .effibient" in operation and easts install. 7 p

The exact nature of the present inventibn, as? well as more 1specific-"obj ects and fe'atures tli'ereofl. will-become apparent f iomth'e f bllbwing descrip"-'* tion when considered ir'ificonnection" withthe a companying' drawings; iir which Figure 1 is afragmentary: top planview, showing an embodiment of the present invention, op-

eratively associated withthe: lall's and switch points of a railway.

Figure 2 is: a transverse section taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1'.

Fig ur'e 3 is a central vertical sectional view-- taken longitudinallythrong-H tile double act'ihg sprihg device forming-part of 'tlieiriventio'nshown ihFigures'l and 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the device shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a transverse section taken on line 55 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken on line 66 ofFigure 3.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the rails 5 and 6 are laid in theusual manner upon crossties I, and associated with these rails areswitch points 8 and 9. As usual, the main track is completed when theswitch point 8 is pressed against the rail 5, and the side track iscompleted when the switch point 9 is pressed against the rail 6.Manually operable means is provided to throw the switch points fromeither position to the other and to lock the same in either position.Such means includes a suitable actuating and locking device A mountedbeside the switch and including a reciprocable member 0, and a noveldouble acting spring device B including a rod II connected at one end tothe member ID, means including a barrel [2 rigidly connecting the switchpoints 8 and 9 and having the rod H slidably extended therethrough, amovable abutment I3 secured on the rod II and slidable in the barrel I2,and springs M and I5 coacting with the barrel l2 and the abutment l3 toyieldingly resist relative move- 2- men't b"'etwe'errsaid harrel ancltlierod H in pupa site directions, Tile arrangement is such"that when theswitch-'- point" 8 maven against the rail" 5*;- the spring I Fis"compressed to' yieldinglyresistseparation ofswitcnpoint-8-frorr'irai1 5 and to returnsaid" switch poi-ht into=contactwitli saidrail if there should beanyforcibleseparationdue' to passage of alocomotive or train through" the switch when" the latter is set against"said locomotivemrtraih: Also; whemthe'switch point is moved against-fithy rail 6} thesprin'glt -is compressed toact 'tliesame -wayrelativet'osaid switch? paint In either case'; the active switch aint may yieidto avoid damage-tattleswitcher derail:- i'ii'g-of-"tli elceo'm'ctiveortrain.=

(fentrally"apertured fixed abutments I 6 arese'-' curedin: the-oppositeends -cf kiarrel l z by'means orf'neits lT which pass downwardly throughsaid b'arrel and ihtosaid abutments lB-s' Bearing bushert-ures ofabut-menta- I 6; an'd' the springs f4" and" I5 enuie1e ro'd' ll atopposite sides of movableahutmen't la and between the latter" and abutmerits? I 6? 'I Hesw-itchpoints-8 am care-dismissa on spaced seats- 19provided on" the trip of Bar-rel I2 and tlieliolts H areccnn'e'cte'd byatie-bar 2U. (ila mpihgpiates z I are disposed on the bolts"l--'|"l5enea-th the'-en'd's"of "'bar"2i], andnuts i i-are threaded ontobolts l1 above the bar 20 and act to draw the clamping plates 2| downagainst the basefianges of switch points 8 and 9 to securely fasten thebarrel 2 to the latter for movement therewith.

As shown, the device A may consist of a support 23 secured on a long oneof the ties 1 and having spaced ears 24 in which are secured the ends ofa guide rod 25. A sleeve 26 is slidable on guide rod 25 and has themember or angular arm l0 fixed thereto. A lever 21 is pivoted at one endas at 28 to the support 23, Adjacent its pivoted end, the lever 21 has acrank pin 29 that projects into a vertically elongated slot 30 providedin a lug 3| projecting upwardly from sleeve 26. The arrangement is suchthat when lever 21 is swung to the position shown, switch point 9 ispressed against rail 6, and when lever 2'! is swung to the left ofFigure 3, switch point 8 is pressed against rail 5. In either positionof lever 21, pin 29 passes to a position slightly lower than pivot 28 soas to lock the switch in the position to which it has been thrown.

In Figure 1, the switch is shown set to complete the side track. Shoulda locomotive or train pass to the right through th switch when it is soset, switch point 9 will yield away from a ra rail 6 due to the factthat the switch points and barrel B are allowed to move laterally of thetrack by the spring I which is then compressed and acting to press theswitch point 9 into engagement with rail 6. In this Way, damage to theswitch and derailing of the locomotive or train is prevented. Also,after the locomotive or train passes through the switch, the spring l5acts to again press the switch point 9 against the rail 6. The sameaction will take place if switch point 8 is pressed against rail 5 tocomplete the main track and a locomotive or train should pass throughthe switch from the side track onto the main track. In the latter event,spring I4 would allow yielding of switch point 8 away from rail 5, andwould again press switch point 8 against rail 5 after passage of thelocomotive or train through the switch.

From the foregoing description, it is believed that the construction,operation and advantages of the invention will be readily understood andappreciated by those skilled in the art. The device may be readilyinstalled and operatively connected to an ordinary switch stand alreadyin use. Minor changes in details of construction are contemplated, suchas fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

1. In a railway switch, in combination, a barrel adapted to be disposedtransversely of and beneath movable switch points, means to secure saidbarrel to movable switch points when so disposed, spaced end abutmentssecured in the ends of said barrel, the means to secure the barrel tothe switch points including a pair of clamping plates, a tie bar, boltsextending through the clamping plates and the tie bar and securing theend abutments in the barrel, and nuts threaded on said bolts for drawingthe clamping plates against the switch points, a rod extending throughsaid end abutments axially of the barrel and having an intermediateabutment secured thereon between said end abutments, said end abutmentsbeing slid-able on said rod, compression springs encircling said rodwithin the barrel, one of said springs being arranged between each endabutment and the intermediate abutment so that, said springs yieldinglyresist movement of the barrel in opposite directions relative to saidrod, and means to connect one end of said rod to means for throwingswitch points to and locking the same in either main track or side trackposition.

2. In a railway switch, in combination, a barrel adapted to be disposedtransversely of and beneath movable switch points, means to secure saidbarrel to movable switch points when so disposed, spaced abutmentssecured in the ends of said barrel, a rod extending through said endabutments axially of the barrel and having an intermediate abutmentsecured thereon between said end abutments, said end abutments beingslidable on said rod, compression springs encircling said rod within thebarrel, one of said springs being arranged between each end abutment andthe intermediate abutment so that said springs yieldingly resistmovement of the barrel in opposite directions relative to said rod, andmeans to connect one end of said rod to means for throwing switch pointsto and locking the same in either main track or side track position, themeans to secure the barrel to switch points including spaced seats forswitch points on the top of said barrel, bolts extending through saidseats, a tie bar connecting said bolts, switch point clamping platesdisposed on said bolts beneath the ends of said tie bar, and nutsthreaded on said bolts above the tie bar for drawing the clamping platesagainst the bases of the switch points so as to secure the barrel to thelatter.

3. The construction defined in claim 2, wherein said bolts act to securethe end abutments in the barrel, said end abutments having centralapertures through which said rod extends, and bearing sleeves for saidrod mounted in the apertures of said end abutments.

MARVIN E. BLYTHE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 804,952 Hundley Nov. 21, 1905919,871 Ingram et al Apr. 27, 1909 1,372,935 Cameli Mar. 29, 1921

